I hope that someday when she’s off finding herself on a post-college backpacking trek, she’ll look back at this photo and recall the night mom took her to the Midsummer Woodland Fairy soiree in her backyard.

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AND SHE’LL REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT.

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This night was actually our closing feast of this year’s summer Art Camp. Our 8th annual. It’s a gathering of artists, musicians and friends- the height of the season, it’s a weekend of art, meals and music… culminating into an epic finale: a magical alfresco dining event, created by our dear friend Sage. Assisted by a small army of tireless crafters– who created garland from the trees, flavored vodkas with berries, and menu cards with scraps of birch bark.

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THIS NIGHT WAS SPECIAL. AND ‘SPECIAL’ MEANT THAT EVERYONE WAS TO DRESS IN HEAD-TO-TOE BLUE.

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Charlie picked her beloved worn-ratty-thin mexican embroidered floral dress for two reasons: it’s her daddy’s favorite. and- she also preferred it’s ‘swing’ when she twirls. (The latter the being the most important virtue- many hours of testing had been done to confirm this).

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IT WAS PITCH BLACK. WE COVERED HER EYES AND LED HER TO THE EDGE OF THE FIELD.

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When she peeked through, all she could see was the long expanse of black in front of her, flecked with fireflies.  A forever walk to a looming green tent in the distance – brimming with lights and faries And music and laughing.

She was shy at first.
(Who wouldn’t be, with all the overserved fairies laughing in long dresses & enormous floral crowns).  But her shyness would melt as soon as she spotted the puppy wearing its own necklace of blooms.

The ‘fairies’ would craft her a crown of foraged flowers.
A necklace woven of bird’s feathers.
And offer up Fruit-infused spring water in teensy vintage crystal cordial glass. Charlie would run with the fairies, roll in the wet grass with the puppy- explore the undersides of every table – and sample nearly everyone’s desserts. She would dance under a starlit sky– to 1930’s Finnish music crackling through retrofitted antique radio.And as in Scandinavian tradition, an epic pire of logs wold be ignited, the band would play under the stars, and she would fall asleep in my arms.

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AND THEN LIKE ALL THE BEST DREAMS, IT WAS GONE.

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By morning, the tables would be stacked, the garland blown across the field-

plates cleaned by grateful 2nd shift woodland creatures.
Back to resetting the camp grounds for the next event.
Goodbyes where brief, everyone busy packing up the remnants of their flower wreathes, feather earrings and half-woven art projects. Many would be left behind, having not made it through the night.

Back to the city. Back to work. Back to reality.

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SOME WEEKS LATER, A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE SURPRISE WOULD ARRIVE IN MY DIGITAL MAILBOX.

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There it was. In 3×5 square inches, it was that split second moment.

I remember that I was chasing her around the dining tables.

I remember that she was chasing the dog, the fireflys, the stars.

I remember that she was beaming from the inside.

I hope that 20 years from now, when she’s off on some adventure of her own, and discovers the little 3×5 inch photo that her mom tucked her backpack, she’ll remember that this was the night she became a Woodland Fairy and discovered the Midsummer Fairy ball in her own backyard.

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There are experiences in our childhood that we can only recall when we see it in a photo decades later.

The older I get I appreciate these little gifts more. Some will say its just simply reliving our past  – but it’s the culmination of these little life experiences that make us who we are. Who we’ll grow up to be, what we are subconsciencely drawn to later in life.

Some of my favorite photos spark memories of bouncing around the country roads in the back of my dad’s pickup truck with my 4 siblings. The giant cottonwood rope swing at my grandpa’s farm garden. Endlessly exploring the acres of woods in our backyards looking for fairies. Those photos (and these new ones) are my answer to the question of  “the one thing you would grab if the house were on fire.”

I’m going to revisit this particular 3×5 moment with Charlie as much as humanly possible. And try my damndest to make even more little moments for her to stockpile in that vast library of experiences that culminate into who she is bound to become.

This moment in particular, was an experience gifted to us by a very special group. An so an enormous amount of gratitude goes out to my real  life friends and Charlie’s actual living woodland fairies who made this unforgettable night happen for her (and all of us)

Much Love, Ladies!

-Tereasa